Jay Wright has watched his Villanova players win on some of the biggest stages in the sport. He never imagined he would witness their crowning moment from the side of a road in Radnor. 

Wright and his wife, Patty, were driving home from a wedding in Red Bank, N.J., on Saturday night when Game 5 of the NBA Finals tightened late, reports Jeff Neiburg for The Philadelphia Inquirer.  

Rather than risk missing the finish, they pulled into a quiet cul-de-sac and huddled over Wright’s phone, watching the final minutes on a tiny screen. 

What they saw was history. Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart, three players Wright once coached on the Main Line, helped deliver the New York Knicks their first NBA title in 53 years. 

He described watching the three of them succeed on the league’s grandest stage as something close to watching his own children grow up and carry their lessons out into the world. 

Wright always believed Hart would compete with a chip on his shoulder and that Bridges would carry a winner’s mentality wherever he went.  

Brunson’s ascent was the one that still caught him off guard.  

The Finals MVP poured in 45 points in the road clincher, settling any lingering question about whether he could be the leading scorer on a championship team. 

What struck Wright most was seeing the program’s fingerprints on their game, mixed with everything the players had built on their own. 

“You see things that they specifically took from our program,” Wright said. “You see the mentality that they took from our program. You also see what they added themselves to that, their own individualism, their own level of maturity, their own level of knowledge of the NBA game that I don’t have. It was fascinating for me to watch that.” 

Read Jeff Neiburg’s complete story at The Philadelphia Inquirer to hear Wright reflect on the players, the program, and the championship moment he will never forget. 

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